


come morning light

by ibuiltthesunforyou



Category: Charlie's Angels (2019)
Genre: F/F, Lots of Whump, Whump, tw: almost death, tw: sleep deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:33:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibuiltthesunforyou/pseuds/ibuiltthesunforyou
Summary: elena makes a mistake that ends with sabina in the hospital and elena really doesn’t know if she can forgive herself (angst with a side of fluff)
Relationships: Elena Houghlin/Jane Kano/Sabina Wilson, Elena Houghlin/Sabina Wilson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 211





	come morning light

**Author's Note:**

> ot3 implied, thanks to the peeps @ good morning charlie discord for single handedly making me write almost every day of december

It was around 1300 but to Elena, it felt like the middle of the night. Maybe it’s because she hasn’t felt her bed in days, her entire world being confined to a computer and it’s keyboard and the office of their apartment.

But it was to keep Sabina and Jane safe. Specialized keys to unlock any of the automatic doors, a whole sweep of the security system, tiny things that set them up for success. So frankly she didn’t care if she felt hollow from just how little sleep she had.

On the day of the mission, she felt woozy. The kind of turned around that seeps into your bones and eats you from the inside out. But she didn’t trust anyone else to be their “pie in the sky”, as Sabina had said once. That’s not what that phrase meant. But Elena liked it better that way. Besides, most of the prep work was done, right? The rest was up to Jane and Sabina. 

Except the fact that while Elena had set up the entire mission, she forgot one, single thing. The back door camera. It wasn’t on her radar until she watched someone come through it and throw Jane against the metal walls hard enough that the clang from her head sent feedback screaming into Elena and Sabina’s ears just at the echo. And that moment of pitch in their ears that made Sabina lose focus for a moment, made her a perfect target to be next. But she was strong, a great fighter, and eventually turns the scales in her favor. She’s holding a gun over him in minutes.

“Janey?” She calls, staring at the other girl. Enveloped in the worry that consumed them so much that she didn’t even see the flash of silver as the man took a knife from his pocket and buried it into Sabina’s thigh.

At that moment, Elena thought her entire world went black. But unfortunately, it hadn’t. Because on the screen in front of her laid the two people she loved most in the world, crumbled on the floor. But she wasn’t there. She was halfway across the city at the Outpost, having set up all of her work remotely so what happened on their first mission didn’t happen again. She couldn’t do anything but press every single panic button she could find, and was helpless to watch each and every perp exit the scene. 

Her calls to Bosley went unanswered. It didn’t make much of a difference, she felt mute, she felt as if her voice had been tugged out of her tired body for someone else’s use. 

Sabina wasn’t trying to talk to her anyway.

She was calling to Jane who was still crumbled against the floor. 

Wake up. Please wake up and help her. Elena’s hands scraped over her face, trying to think of someway, anyway to fix this. But her mind felt like puddy, screaming at her for any sort of rest.

Sabina’s words worked up into a frenzy, scattering among the connection as she tried to say anything to wake Jane up, her own hands wrapped around her thigh in an attempt to stop the blood. It was a wonder she had any left with the amount staining the floor around them.

But then Sabina’s scream cut through her ears and the familiar taste of bile touched Elena’s lips. Selfishly, disgustingly selfishly Elena wanted to cut her tattoo from her skin, or rip off her ears. Do something so that the screaming would stop because it was too much. It was just too much. She couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t run to them, and she felt completely, and utterly useless. 

When she heard Bosley’s voice on the comm, accompanied by the sounds of medics and business; she moved to turn off her microphone in the system and collapsed into a pile of sobs. 

After she sobbed herself into submission, she, with no real rational thought, started the mission report. The number of times “fault of Elena Houghlin” were found in the document almost rivaled the number of times she wrote “teh” instead of the. She had to fix it, and in her scrambled mind, the only way to fix it was to do her side of the job. Not run out in heroics, but write it down for review, to write out every single thing she’d missed so it never happened again. 

The phone ringing jolts her, and she suddenly wonders if she’d been moving prior to it or somewhere between sleep and consciousness. Her hand is shaky as she reaches for it, pressing the green button before bringing it to her ear.

“Elena?” Bosley’s voice is soft, probably wondering if the girl was sprinting down main street. 

But she can’t answer. Not with how hard she’s shaking. 

“Elena? Are you there?” 

Silence. 

“Sabina’s going into surgery. It’s touch and go. You should be here when Jane wakes up.” 

She doesn’t remember getting up. She doesn’t remembering getting in a cab, or even paying the man. It takes her more than a few tries to get voice verification at the door, and each time makes her feel more helpless. But eventually she gets in, and walks like a zombie to the Infirmary. 

Everything smells clean, just like a regular hospital, but Townsend gold glitters along the seams of the walls. But to Elena everything feels black and white. That tends to happen when the love(s) of your life are strapped up to hospital beds. 

When she gets to Jane’s room, she sees Bosley out of the corner of her eye, but doesn’t greet her. She can’t. All she can do is press her hands into the space beside Jane, her shaky arms barely holding her up as she lets herself just fall to her knees, hand catching Jane’s limp one as she falls. And three words leave her lips before the sobs return, brutal and angry, shaking her entire system. 

“I’m so sorry.” 

And she falls asleep like that. For hours. Long enough for Jane to wake up, for Sabina to get out of surgery, for Jane to be formally discharged.

When Elena wakes up, it’s dark. She feels warm. She feels loved. She feels safe. Those are none of the things she deserves to feel. When she hears Jane whisper, “good morning love.” in her ear she wishes she hadn’t slept. Because now? It wasn’t fuzzy. Every single mistake was at a fever pitch in her mind. She was fully awake, and fully aware that she’d almost gotten them killed. 

When she gets off the bed, quickly and clumsily, Jane looks confused. She reaches out for her, a pet name falling from her lips. It was comforting for her to be able to hold at least half of her world in her arms. But the way Elena stumbles back jolts her. 

“No- I. I can’t.” Her words tumble from her lips as fast and as messy as her tears. “This is all my fault.” 

When Jane stands up, Elena watches her grow to tower her. “Darling, it’s nobody’s fault. It’s the job.” 

“No. This was my fault. This was my mistake and you could’ve died and Sa-,” She can’t say her name without a sob that she’s sure has been waiting since the moment she woke up. “Oh my god, Sabina.” 

This time, Jane is there to catch her before she crumbles, Elena’s hands bunching in her shirt. “I’m so sorry.” 

Jane’s usual aim for perfection wavered. It was part of the job. And as much as it felt like her entire being was trapped in Sabina’s hospital room - she wasn’t angry. Mostly just worried. If it was anyone else, they might’ve been thru the window. But this was Elena. “Hey,” She said softly, her face nuzzling into Elena’s hair. “It’s not your fault. I promise you my love.” And Elena desperately wished she could believe her. 

It was exactly 3 days, 4 hours, and 2 minutes before they knew Sabina was out of the woods. During that time, Elena could barely be in the room for more than a few minutes, even if Sabina reached for her during the few times she woke up every so often. The guilt seemed to get worse, and even when they took her home, Elena seemed to always have something to do. She slept in the office on the small cot Bosley had forced inside after the state they’d seen her in. Jane didn’t know why, and felt a pang in her chest whenever she had to tell Sabina she was already asleep and couldn’t come to bed. The look on the heiress’ face made her heart drop every time.

Eventually, when Sabina could walk again, Elena had more trouble getting away. Especially when she was already locked in their office. It was approximately 2 hours after the computer had shut down due to a time limit (Bosley, again) and she was writing things out on paper when Sabina came in. Her skin wasn’t quite normal yet, still paler than usual (which was a huge surprise that that was a possibility), and she walked with a limp. Elena didn’t notice at first, assuming it was Jane or Bosley and wondering if they were finally going to blow up at her after how many times she just wouldn’t listen. But when she looked up, she stopped moving. 

“Hey firefly.” Her only response was big brown eyes and a stillness that freaked Sabina out a little. Jane had told her a little bit, she’d even heard a few times when they thought she was asleep. She knew why Elena looked like she’d seen a ghost. There seemed to be a trend of her girls crying over her almost dead body, which was only fun in theory. 

“You gotta come out here eventually.” She sat at the end of the desk, waiting for any sort of reaction. But Elena just stared with those big eyes and Sabina would’ve laughed at any other situation. “Baby, c’mon. The bed feels empty without you.” She reaches out, her cold fingertips brushing across Elena’s cheek. Elena’s eyelids fell, almost letting herself relax, but she leaned back after a second, her eyes dropping to her lap. “Elena, you’re punishing us more than you’re punishing yourself.” Her voice sounds hurt, and it’s the first time Elena’s really ever heard her sound anything but light and frothy. 

“I’m sorry.” She says softly, moving to stand up. “I’m not trying to - that’s not what I’m trying to do.” 

“Elena, you gotta remember. We can do anything together. But it has to be together.” It was something Sabina always said, reminding them that they were a force to be reckoned with. It usually made Elena feel warm. 

“Together is how I got you stabbed.” She murmured, her hands resting on Sabina’s chest. 

“Were you holding the knife?” 

“Well, no, but -”

“Then you didn’t get me stabbed. Borus Fuckoffsvky did.”

“But it was my fault, I miss-”

“Yeah, you missed one thing. You made a mistake. You know how many times I’ve missed a signal and almost gotten someone killed? Like when I missed a signal, and you almost got a Kodak moment with Mr. Hodak.” That drew a laugh from Elena’s lips. “You made a mistake, and no one is upset with you other than yourself. So tell me why, not that we’re all home, with a week off, I have to wake up without my firefly?” 

“I guess you’re right.”  
  


“Of course I’m right.” Her arms wrap around Elena’s middle, letting their foreheads press together. “As much as I love Janey, she doesn’t let me be the big spoon.”

“I’ll be your little spoon whenever you want. Anytime.” 


End file.
